Bottle o Smoke

By insisting that the crisis in the Middle East is about
Terrorism, George W. Bush Jr. clouds the real issues, which are how much the United States should do for Israel and what should be done with Iran.

I read an article the other day, where a year after 9/11,
Richard Armitage, then the U.S secretary of state was asked, with its war on
terrorism, what the U.S panned to do with Hizballah. “Their time will come” he stated firmly.
“There is no question about it, they have a blood debt to us, and we’re not
going to forget it”

The blood debt that Armitage mentioned is the 1983 bombing
of the U.S Marine barracks in
Beirut that killed 241 U.S service members. The
U.S believes that Hizballah was responsible for this. Going back to Armitage’s statement, “their
time” appears to be now.

By helping Israel’s
ferocious offensive against Hizballah in Lebanon,Washington was taken “a forceful
swing at the militia, even if it’s by proxy”. It’s not about avenging those marines killed in the bombings in 1983 of
course, it’s about fighting the global war on terrorism.

After 9/11 Dubya declared the war on terrorism would be
fought not just against Al-Qaeda, but also against “every terrorist group of
global reach”, Hamas and Hizballah included. However Lisa Beyer of Time magazine questions this. First of all, as grand and promising as
Bush’s statement is, realistically this will not happen and for good
cause: The U.S simply doesn not have the
troops, money, or political will to fight a war against, as Michael Moore put
so simply as “a noun”. Because of
this, Beyer states that it naturally makes sense to “limit its hit list tot eh
groups that actually threaten it”.  

Beyer states that Hizballah and Hamas, do not do that
now.

The extent that they are terrorizing the U.S falls solely on
the fact that Hizballah is attacking
Israel,
an ally of the United States. But to think that Hizballah or Hamas will be
behind the next 9/11 “costs the U.S credibility, risks driving terrorist groups
that aren’t allied into alliance and obscures the real issues at hand in the
middle east: how do you soften up
militias who oppose Israel’s existence?”

However Bush believes that Hizballah has reached
international heights, as two weeks ago he announced to the world that
Hizballah was linked to the militants that staged the London subway bombing in July. This statement would link Hizballah to the
same mind set as Al-Qaeda, which is global Jihad; Boom-Boom. This is not the case, Hizballah’s mission is
principally to defend
Lebanon from the Jewish State, they simply want to see an Islamic rule in Lebanon. The Al-Qaeda thinks much bigger. Moreover, the Al-Qaeda are Salafists;
Sunni. Hizballah are Shi’ite, which
means they hate each other. A lot.

That is not to say that Hizballah are not terrorists
however. The formation of Hizballah and
their rise to political power is an ugly tale. They established their terrorist resume in 1980 by kidnapping 50
foreigners in Lebanon,
including 18 U.S citizens, and killing two of them. In 1992 they bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and in 1994 a
Jewish cultural center there, killing 95. Hamas, also a nasty organization, has no known ties to Al-Qaeda. Moreover, they do not reach beyond its home
front and does not target Americans. Its
agenda is local. 

With  this said, the
U.S are right in stepping in and aiding in the peace talks, but they are wrong
in telling the world that this is all for their war on terror. There are no American Troops in Lebanon, “It is Israelthat is paying the price in
Blood and treasure”. The main question
is how much the U.S should do for Israel, and what in the world are they going
to do with Iran, who is backing Hizballah financially. Because of Iran,
the fundamental problem the U.S has with Hizballah is that it refuses to stop
attacking America’s
Principal ally in the region, and Hizballah has the means to keep
fighting.   

But Hooray for the World Bank! Seriously, after years of be bitching about
how something had to be done regarding the Philippines Education Department, I
open the news paper this morning to read: “World Bank Okays $200 –M Loan to
improve RP Education”.

According to the article, the WB approved a $200 Million
loan to improve basic education in the Philippines, specifically “to train
school staff in financial accountability, improve teaching standards, and raise
the quality of key curricula, including English, Filipino, math, and Science”. It’s safe to say that the Philippines, which is ranked among
the lowest 10 percent of countries in terms of the quality of math and science,
needs this money.

I have been a strong believer that to change the country,
you need to improve education, and this is a perfect stepping stone. However, a word of caution, this $200 million
needs to be invested into the education department in the right way. While I believe that the money should be used
for training and improving math and science, I also believe in improving the simpler
things that people tend to forget.

A perfect example is school uniforms. My aunt who works with an organization called
“Feed the Hungry”, spends a whole year in the states raising money so she can
come to the Philippinesand help certain provinces improve their public school. She buys them books, computers, ect…but she
also told me that the most important thing she realized was the need for
clothes.

“You can have a public school that can have the newest
computers, or the latest text books, but the problem I faced is that many
children will not come to school because they have nothing to wear, and thus
are made fun off. Some kids come to
school with no shoes, or torn shirts, and are ridiculed because of it, and at
the same time they cannot afford to pay for uniforms”.

While this may seem like a very small insignificant problem
to many, I believe that the government should seriously think about providing
uniforms in public schools. “Many
children want to learn, they are just ashamed of the way they look”. That shouldn’t be the case, but in a country
materialistic as ours, in hardly surprising. However, sometimes it doesn’t take some big groundbreaking solution to a
problem, sometimes it can be something so small and so simple. If you don’t believe me read The Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell
(amazing read…).

A perfect example he uses in the book is how NY was able to
make the subways safer. It wasn’t by
enforcing the law with more police, or by increasing rates so poor people wouldn’t
be able to ride them (and that would be just mean…), it was simple: they erased all graffiti. When a train car would come in the nights
shift and have graffiti, they would paint over it and use it the next day. When those that vandalized the trains would
come in the next night to see their work, they would be surprised to see
nothing but clean trains passing through picking up passengers.  This
would deter those who tagged the subways; the very same people who made the
subways a dangerous place to be. Once
the graffiti stopped, slowly, crime in the subways stopped. No big grand spending plan, just lots of
paint remover.

I’d like to think we could use that $200 Million in a
similar way. Growing up I hated
uniforms, but now I realized the importance of it. It makes us all equal. There is no one around to judge us if were
wearing torn clothes, or a flashy popped up Lacoste shirt (side note, what’s
with the popping of collars? Am I the
only one who finds that really really lame on guys?) With Uniforms there is a level playing flied,
no one has an advantage and can ridicule you.

Uniforms is one thing I have in mind, the other is
transportation of children to actual schools. Yes I would also want improved training, school supplies, and quality of
education to increase, and I believe the money should be used here as well
obviously, but we must realize that this money is a loan.  Meaning, if we do not see returns in the
next few years, this loan will come back to bite us in the ass. We need
to use this money in such a way that more children who want to come to class
can and will not be deterred from it.  We need more children to graduate high school
and college. We need to see these children work and get good jobs, so that we
might be able to pay this loan back someday.

The fact that we might not be able to pay the money back is
my main worry. The IMF screwed us before, and as much as I’m a skeptic of the WB, I’d like to think there better
than the IMF. The bottom line is simple;
the $200 million needs to be used in such a way that we get actual returns not
just in the short run, but in the long run as well. I’m not looking for something to happen over
night, but in 5-6 years, yeah I think I’d give them that much time, and as an
optimist, I’m willing to give the WB and the

Philippines

the benefit of the
doubt here.

But I swear to god, if I hear that millions of this money
went to some fucking politician or senator’s wallet…well I’ll give them a free lesion
of my fist in their face. 

Over the past few weeks, we have bared witness to yet again, the return of something that should have long ago been put down like a sick, aged old ugly animal.  Deposed President Joseph Estrada confirmed yesterday that he had advance warning from confessed US spy Leandro Aragoncillo but was confident they would fail saying " I did not give it weight. I was confident that EDSA II would not happen".  This once again put him back in the spotlight of the media, as he has been every chance he can get out of house arrest (which ironically is every other week). 

Estrada claimed Mrs. Arroyo was moving behind the scenes and meeting with the deputies of then Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes, then Armed Forces vice chief of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva and then Brig. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa. "I got that information but I did not pay attention to it because I was overconfident. And I trusted Angie (Reyes) and Orly (Mercado)," Estrada said.

Estrada’s story is probably true and it does not surprise me one bit.  President Arroyo did what any other Filipino Vice –President would have done in that situation, find a way to seize power.  And she did.  Do you know why Arroyo is still president up until now?  Because every attempt at her presidency has been thwarted by her, because she acted on it.  Estrada did not, because he is well how should we put it:  unintelligent.  Does this story surprise anyone?  Go back to when Estrada was in office.  In the years he was in office we saw the peso devaluate in record numbers, the economy was in hell, and poverty, crime, and unemployment went up.  WWJD?  Nay.  What WWVPGMA do.  She took over (with our help) and Estrada has been in and out of the media ever since. 

Honestly though, why are people still listening to this guy?  Why hasn’t he drowned in his own pool of scotch smelling urine?  WHY IS THIS MAN STILL IN THE NEWS PAPERS!!??  Seriously I remember having this conversation about Estrada right after he was impeached, I said "we need to exile this guy, We keep him under house arrest here it’ll be like keeping a pack of matches next to a stove.  I was for the death penalty but decided against it because god forbid someone like him end up a martyr that would be the most pathetic thing ever. 

No, we decide to be catholic and merciful and give him house arrest, which come to think about it is more like "do whatever the hell you want" arrest, seeing as he has been allowed to travel outside of his compound over a dozen times since his sentence.  These visits are due to medical purposes (and those who watch the Sopranos know that’s complete bullshit), and because he is still around, every now and then he pops back into the media and tries to win back (unsuccessfully thank god) some support. 

What people fail to realize is this:  The man is a bloody criminal.  In 3 years he stole as much money as President Ferdinand Marcos did in 20, and also drive the Philippines into a deeper economic hole…that has to be a record of some sort.  He is on trail for Economic Plunder, that means he’s on trail for fucking up a whole country, an interesting addition to ones resume.  Usually criminals are locked up and never heard from again, except for the likes of Nelson Mandela.  We all know though, that comparing Erap to Mandela is an insult. 

I mean look at him.  Come on, just spend ten seconds looking at that picture of him and think to yourself, that man was the president of a country. Our country. This is the man who represented us, who spoke on behalf of our nation!

  Pretty depressing isn’t it?  I mean this is one of the best pictures I could find, all the others look like he’s dying or about to pass out. 

But we can’t get rid of him. 

Herein lies the sad cruel twist of fate of the sequels.  Erap is very similar to the people who thought of the New ROCKY VI and Rambo VI movies that are coming out soon.  They should know when to quit.  They should no when to shut the hell up and think of something original.  See if Estrada did something amazing and ridiculously unpredictable, like one of his stupid movies in the end where he always wins at least we can say: Holy shit, Erap just staged a one man coup by parachuting into the Presidential Palace, took out all the guards with a fork, and didn’t kill Arroyo but instead let her confess her lies and corruption to the Nation via a hidden tape recorder under his bullet proof vest…what a guy!  But Estrada continues his sad race towards something unattainable, the same thing Stallone is trying to attain: Respect.  But it is hard to respect people who annoy the hell out of us/ 

So what do we do about Erap?  Kill him we make him a Martyr, Life in prison we run the risk of another coup (and it will happen).  Exiling him seems to be a reasonable idea.  If he tries to come back at least we might have some warning.  Hopefully we can exile him to like, Brazil or something, so he can try to run his mouth and then get the shit kicked out of him.  The saying holds true:  “out of sight, out of mind”.  Good Old Sylvester Stallone was out of my mind, as was Staron Stone.  But no we get Basic Instinct II and Rocky VI, and just like that there in the news again.  Estrada was also in the movie business, so he, like many washed up actors who refuse to go away, knows how to stay in the media:  Just keep making an ass out of yourself. 

Mail order brides is a mind blowing concept.  For those who havent heard of it, the name says it all.  Basically, you go online, pick out a wife from another country, and in 6-8 weeks she will show up on your doorstep.  Think of it as having an "easy button" like those staples advertisements.  However nothing gets upsets me more of than stories of women from Asia or Europe being "bought" by a sketchy American man to be there wife.  Well actually anything negative about Filipino’s and Filipino culture pisses me off more.

So you can imagine my supreme discomfort for the world when I read about our apparent culture and reasons why Filipino women make amazing wives for foreigners.  Since I’m at work and have nothing better to do (except work?  Your kidding me right…) lets break some down shall we?

"Filipino women are domesticated and submissive by nature.  They are willing to sacrifice careers for family".
-Not true.  I actually don’t know any pinays who are domesticated, there actually quite useless when it comes to "domestication" because there too busy finding uuhh…damn what are those called again…oh yeah JOBS.  In fact, new statistics show that over the past 5 years, the number of women who have become employed has increased dramatically.  There is only one woman I know who wants to be a country club wife, and i wont name her coz she’s…well…dumb. 

"Husbands are providers while wives are meant to stay home and clean"
-This reminds me of the time when Woodrose School for girls banned basketball and soccer because they deemed it "un-lady like"…coz there fucking stupid.  While this is the social norm of society everywhere, I’d like to think that we’ve moved past this…I for one bask in the idea of my wife making more money that me, it’s kind of kinky. 

"Filipino Women are naturally romantic"
-I tend to agree here.  Filipino’s (not just women but men too), are suckers for Cheese.  Were all about taking the cheese to the next limit.  We love the cheesy lines and the cheesy romance, why do you think we have so many movies with so much crying in them!?  But are we naturally romantic?  If we were maybe we would have elected Aga for President (probably would have won if he ran too…), not that fucking action moron who we elected a few years back…

Wow.  I had no idea that the reason I could not find a stable relationship back home because all this time, I was going for the more educated, motivated, and confident woman!  My god! I realize now after reading this article that all my past relationships were with women who wanted job, who wanted to learn, and above all, who wanted to become independent.  How the mighty winds of fortune change!  Please!  Bring on the girls with low self-esteem who cannot think for themselves and want nothing more than to stay at home, cook, eat, make babies, and care for them. If there personalities are like this, then just imagine how they must be in the sack…wow…like having sex with a log.    Maybe now with this information, I can finally find myself a filipina bride…and it won’t even have to be mailed to me.  In fact, why stop at a mail order bride, why not Make a bride…robots man…. robots…

The sad part here is that there are many Filipino women who are in fact "mail order brides” Many of them learn about there husbands through email and dream of a life outside the Philippines but instead find nothing more but domestic abuse, prostitution, and in many cases death.  Mail order brides are just another form of prostitution, and it disgusts me. 

Who knows, maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe those old Woodrose alumni are right and Filpinas are submissive and are domesticated.  Maybe women who play sports are un-lady like.  And maybe the real reason why I cannot find a real relationship with a filipina is they realize faster than others that the soft, spongy bump on my left testicle is not really a "G-Spot for men" and that only "special people" have it. 

I apologize, that last comment was rude, disgusting, sexist, gross yet somewhat funny, but also entirely false.  Very much so like the subject of mail order brides. 

Due to rising opposition to her so called "state of emergency", President Arroyo has promised to "lift the state of national emergency at the earliest possible time".  Her statement came from the various people in government who have the bizarre idea that somehow, this "state of emergency" is somehow connected in some way to Martial Law back in the Marcos era…

Lets get something straight here people; in no way is this like Martial Law.  For example, those people or institutions that have been directly affected by this "state of emergency" are "allowed to seek legal recourse", Rallies have not been banned, and those rallies that have started have been broken up by peaceful means.  As far as I’m concerned, we still have civil liberties, there is no curfew, and I don’t hear about military personnel patrolling the streets arresting political opposition.  In fact, the political opposition is having a field day by shaving their heads to oppose GMA’s "State of Emergency".  This will only get them sunburned heads, odd stares when they’re in groups, and possibly significantly more or less sex (if their significant others are into that shit or not). 

People need to understand that the reason why were in a "state of emergency" is because of all the shit happening in the country.  We have rumored coups texed to us almost monthly that we fail to understand the full threat of what that would actually do to our nation should one actually succeed.  The fact that there was an attempted one (despite it being pathetic and sad) last Friday should wake people up to the serious political breakdown that has been plaguing our country ever since WWII (Actually you can probably trace it back to when Aguinaldo basically had Bonifacio killed…bastard).  Oh and lets not forget that we’re a third world country, our unemployment rate is growing, as well is the number of street children and un educated. 

You want to promote freedom of speech?  I’m all for that.  But at the same time, lets also promote freedom from ignorance.  Too many people in the Philippines fight for a cause that they only know one side of the story to.  Others fight for a cause on blind faith. 

You want to Promote Freedom of Speech?  How about Freedom from Apathy?  Too many times I find myself in a table full of intelligent people talking over beer and cigarettes about the woes of our country.  Yet that is where it ends.  Once the last cigarette or beer is finished we sigh and say how we cant wait to get out of this place.  Others in Higher places are too busy polishing their sports cars, having affairs, or too busy watching the new season of "the Bachelor" or "the OC" to fully care about what’s going on.  Be honest, when was the last time you even looked at a street child when he or she knocks on your window.  We give them the knock back and turn up the music. 

The fact is, were in a "state of emergency" all the time.  At least once a year we hear about coup attempts (and that’s being VERY liberal), and basically we’ve been a mess since WWII (again debatable back to Aguinaldo).  I would have loved to be there when god made the Philippines and man went back to god and said…"uuuh…we don’t want it…infrastructures fucked…fix it".  Understand, I love my country, I want to fix it, and I want to help people.  But people need to help themselves and learn…and above all, they have to want to. 

"What use is freedom of speech to a person who never went to school? What will he say? Our Armed Forces have a term for state of emergency. They call it full alert. And that is what all good citizens do, be on constant full alert"
-Alejandro R. Roces
The Philippine Star 03/02/2006

Last week, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared that the Philippines was once again, “In a State of Emergency” due to recent coup rumors. What followed was by far “the most pathetic excuse of a coup attempt ever by a military”.  The first quote was taken from the Philippine star…the second, from my belligerent roommate.  I must admit though, he did make sense.  When asked why we seem to have rally’s and coup attempts as we seem to have, I simply answered, “It’s what we do” 

From what I gathered (correct me if I’m wrong. please) some army personnel barricaded themselves in a building and called for the people to protect them and rally to them, much like former President FVR did back in the day.  The only thing is Ramos was able to summon hoards of protestors with the help of (also Former President) Cory Aquino.  This resulted in the world famous People Power Rally that we all have come to love.  Fast-forward almost 20 years and you have the same attempt that rallied about 2000-3000 people.  Now you tell me, is this proof that “People power is not obsolete. People power is very much alive. People power like the truth, is unstoppable"?

I am a firm believer of what People power stood for, and what it still stands for, but I am getting sick and tired of all these imitations and sequels.  Ok, like ghost busters, Terminator, Back to the Future, and possibly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and this is up for debate), People Power’s sequel was a significant hit.  People Power II, or “Edsa Dos” was a success.  We got the job done (ousted corrupt, overweight, never finished high school, and probably always drunk President) and I’m pretty sure it was a victory for democracy.  However it should have stopped there.  Instead, Edsa dos has created a cultural backlash, it’s become the “In-Thing).  And thus we have ruined something that was pretty damn good when it started… now we have Terminator 3, Teenage mutant ninja turtles 3 (possible the worst thing ever) and we have scary movie 3 and 4 as well as final destination 3 (how they even made a sequel was beyond me). Whenever I see all rallies that the media portray as PPIII or PP IV I cannot help but cringe.  Like the other rallies, these poor sequels, were created half assed, many were not directed or produced by there original creators, and those who created these things have lost sight of what the heart of it all really was. They have lost the meaning and moral of what the movie/rally really stood for.

I’m not saying stop rallying, that would be obstruction of freedom of speech, and that’s a whole other debate.  What I simply ask is that we think before we act. People want to rally to oppose GMA and call for her resignation.  That is Fine, but think first: whom do we have who is to actually replace her?  What would be the social, economic, and political repercussions to this?  Where would this leave the value of the Peso feel that those who rally and protest are overlooking these questions.

When it all comes down to it, education is what it all boils down to.  People need to learn and understand what is really happening in our country.  If we can find the right answers to that we might possibly be able to create somthing new, origional, unchallangeable…something like broekback mountain(I dont care what you say, it was a bloody good movie).   However we must be careful and remember the moral of the story we create, otherwise we might have another lame sequel that retards the origonal theme of what we created.  Heaven forbid we come up with something so stupid and idiotic like Rocky 6…wait…what…their actually making a Rocky 6?!?!?  shit..we’re fucked. 

PS:  this a good article to read too…

http://www.bulatlat.com/archive/011excuse_me.htm